According to Metro, Arsenal’s comeback midfielder Mathieu Flamini has already raised the topic of leaving the club, less than a month after his comeback to the Gunners squad, after the former French international’s contract at Serie A giants AC Milan expired at the end of last summer.
Arsene Wenger has been having one of the best weeks of the past few years, as the club are 2nd in the Barclays Premier League after a string of good results and Wednesday night’s 2-1 victory over Marseille in the Champions League (making it 10 away victories in a row – pretty impressive). Supporters were concerned about the season, after their opening weekend of the season ended in defeat in the hands of Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium. However, Wenger has been able to raise the morale of both his players and the supporters by breaking the club’s all-time spending record on deadline day as they clinched a deal with Real Madrid for the signing of attacking midfielder Mesut Ozil.
The German international has been one of the standout players at Madrid, and there was no doubt that experts and Madrid supporters were left perplexed about the bid being accepted by the Spanish giants. It is being said that the only way to effectively finance Madrid’s purchase of Tottenham Hotspur star Gareth Bale was to sell one of their best players to recover half the amount from the transfer fee. The fee paid by the Gunners was in excess of £40 million, a huge recovery from the Bale purchase which cost them an approximate £85 million fee.
Wenger will be under pressure to keep the squad’s spirits moving in a positive direction and build on the momentum brought by their newest player Ozil, who has contributed well since his arrival.
Flamini’s return brought mixed reactions from the supporters, who will hope the former Marseille player fulfils his two-year contract.
Flamini said, “I did my apprenticeship there. Of course it’s the club of my heart.”
“I’ve always stayed close to it, because I’m in contact with Jose Anigo, someone who knows me very well.”
“There has never been anything concrete and I have some good years ahead me.”
Hopefully Flamini can keep his mind on the job in hand and keep up his solid work in front of the back four, there is plenty of time for him to think about returning to the club of his apprenticeship.